Personal Computer Memory Card International Association (PCMCIA) peripheral cards, which later became known as PC peripheral cards, are used to vary the capabilities of a computer system or other electronic equipment. At approximately the size of a credit card that is generally connected to a peripheral device at one end, PC peripheral cards can be plugged on the fly into expansion slots coupled to the system bus thereby adding desired functions to personal computer systems or handheld computer systems. Examples of the kinds of peripheral devices that can be added to computer systems or electronic equipment via PC peripheral cards include communications devices (e.g., modems, ethernet networks, etc.), add-on memory devices, multimedia devices, hard drive controllers, and floppy drive controllers. In short, PC peripheral cards act as an interface to allow data to be transferred between the peripheral device and the computer system or electronic equipment.
PC peripheral cards can either follow the architecture in the PC specification Revision 2.1 (hereinafter R2 architecture) or the PC Cardbus specification (hereinafter Cardbus architecture). A few highlighted distinctions between the two architectures include while the R2 PC peripheral cards support 16-bit operations, the Cardbus PC peripheral cards support 32-bit operations and provide bus mastering capability. Architecturally, a PC peripheral card generally consists of a connector that interfaces to an integrated circuit board embodying the function (e.g., a floppy drive controller) to be carried out by the PC peripheral card.
For a PC peripheral card to function, it must be completely inserted into an extension slot of the computer system. As such, an indicator (e.g., a beeping sound) is provided to alert the end user that the PC peripheral card has been properly inserted and is ready for operation. However, it may be minutes from the time the PC card is inserted into the extension slot until the end user executes a command (e.g., read or write operation) to transfer data between the peripheral device and the computer system via a PC peripheral card. Accordingly, some kind of indication is desirable to signal to the end user that the PC peripheral card is functioning during the data transfer operation since he may have forgotten whether the PC peripheral card has been properly inserted. Moreover, even if the PC peripheral card has been properly inserted such indication signal is still needed because the PC card may be malfunctioned. The indication signal is desirable because the transfer data may be lost if the end user is not aware that the PC peripheral card has not been properly inserted or is malfunctioned.
In the Prior Art, an LED circuit is provided as a visual indication of the data transfer operation. Normally unlit, the LED is lit when a data transfer operation occurs. As a result, the LED flickers when data transfer operations occur in series. However, given the current speed of computer processors and peripheral devices, the duration of a read or write transaction may be in micro-seconds or less. As such, the LED flickering rate may be too fast for the human eye to recognize which drastically reduces the effectiveness of the visual effect intended.
Hence, there is a need for an apparatus, system, and method to reduce the flickering rate of the LED circuit so that the effectiveness of the visual effect intended can be maximized.